Imaging speed can be doubled as known with minimal loss in signal-to noise-ratio (SNR) by using a multi band acquisition. For a dual-band example, this is achieved by exciting two spatially separated slabs concurrently using a wideband pulse, and concurrently reading out the data. Concurrent readout of the two slabs leads to image aliasing, with one slab overlapping the other. These images are then unaliased in image reconstruction by using receiver coil sensitivities. Many 2D and 3D applications could benefit from such a technique. Peripheral MR angiography or breast imaging may be ideally suited for this application because the anatomy and coils are spatially separated in space, thus (a) time spent in encoding FOV outside of the anatomy of interest may be minimized and (b) by making image reconstruction better due to vastly different coil sensitivities. Another advantage of limiting the excitation may be that the g-factor penalty is also reduced. One limitation of dual (or multi) band pulses is that the individual slabs need to be the same thickness and orientation, but only spatially separated. Alternately, separate RF pulses may be used to excite the two slabs instead of a multiband pulse. One big advantage of using two separate pulses to excite the two bands, as opposed to one multiband pulse, is that the thickness and orientation of the two slabs can be controlled independently. However, when using two separate RF pulses the echo times (TEs) will be different for both slabs, depending on the durations of the two RF pulses. Since TE has a large impact on the soft tissue contrast, this difference in TE can create a significant difference in image contrast between the two slices/slabs, which is undesirable. A system according to invention principles addresses this deficiency and related problems.